Last year I entered a writing contest for unpublished novelists. It was my second year of entering the same manuscripts, and I had high hopes. When I got the lower-than-expected results, I collapsed like a $2 suitcase. I can’t tell you exactly why it upset me so much, but it did. I cried buckets of tears. My heart broke. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball, pull up the covers, and quit.

That’s where “F” comes in –

F is for Faceless Friends

Even though I love my husband dearly, and even though he fully supports my career choice, he doesn’t really “get” it. He tried to encourage me. He tried to comfort me. I just kept crying. That’s when I turned to the internet, and to my Faceless Friends.
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My Faceless Friends. A group of people I’ve met through associations and online groups. We’ve never met face-to-face, but we understand each other. 
Over the years I’ve tried and tried to find or create reading and writing groups in my area. I knew it was important to find people nearby, people I could look at and laugh with, but I was looking so hard for my Fleshy Friends that I didn’t fully appreciate my Faceless Friends. I don’t really know them. I can’t see them. I didn’t think they could offer me the same type of relationships I craved from locals. Then I got my contest results. 
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When I finally read them, it was 10 p.m. It was too late to call anyone, even if I had anyone to call. Even if I had anyone to call, I was crying too hard to talk on the phone anyway. Matt didn’t know what to say. There was no one else available, so I logged on.
It was coming up on midnight, when I sat down at my computer and poured out my heart. I shared my desires, my fears, and my disappointments. I hit enter and went to bed.
I woke up to an inbox full of encouragement. Kind words, prayers, stories from people who had been in my situation. Some understood me. Others didn’t, but they understood the struggle that is the writing life. They took a few minutes out of their day to love on me, their Faceless Friend.
Don’t underestimate the power of people you’ve never met. While it’s fun to sit down and have a cup of coffee with another writer, for some of us rural folks it’s not always easy to find someone. That’s okay. There’s a world full of people just waiting to meet you, and some of them will be the best friends you’ve never met.
QUESTION: I’ve met my Faceless Friends through the American Christian Fiction Writers Association, the American Christian Writers Association, and blog hunting. How do you meet your Faceless Friends?